Imagine you are soaking up the sun from your patio, watching two seagulls glide through the air. You are sitting in your favorite chair, with a cup of joe in hand as you enjoy that morning breeze. A brief glance at the phone reveals a high of 74 degrees and sunny — the perfect weather to go to the beach.
“Ah, I’m living the dream life,” you think.
Most Americans will agree that this is a dream come true, but yet not many will attempt to achieve this dream. Most don’t even try because they don’t develop the attitude to get to the promised land. Luckily, you aren’t like most people, because you are already taking great strides toward financial freedom. To help you get there, here are a few concepts to internalize and develop to speed up the process.
You must be comfortable living like no other. The math is irrefutable. The more you save versus your take-home pay, the earlier you can retire. Whether you are earning the median income or millions a year, you need to be accustomed to living life that costs less than your peers. This may mean buying a car and driving it to the ground instead of getting a new lease every three years, or consistently calling your cable company to get a new deal every few months. The journey may seem like a sacrifice, but there’s nothing wrong with your approach. In fact, you won’t regret the decision because you are essentially buying a lasting luxury called freedom instead of depreciating luxuries that society markets to you.
Feeling at peace with investing for the long term is essential. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that boom and bust are inevitable six years into a bull market, but the reality is that most of the population will panic and sell the next time equities become volatile again. Unlike a typical retiree who can rely partly on Social Security, early retirees will need to count on their stash growing to last several decades. If you set your sights on early retirement, you will have to learn how to invest prudently in the drawdown stage even if you strike it big and don’t need investment returns while you are earning income.
You must be prepared to find happiness without a job. I know this statement sounds insane, but life away from a workplace can be a big adjustment. For many, building a multidecade career also meant a life molded to fit that work life. The morning coffee, the intellectual challenge and even the complaints about bosses at lunch time is instinctively comforting to the average worker — it’s what they know. One of my friends travels to Asia every month and then uses all those frequent flier points to pay for his parents’ travels. If he quits his job, even his parents will have to make minor adjustments because he simply cannot afford all the costs of traveling in a large family. Others are shocked to find that they actually miss the camaraderie after they quit work. Almost every 9-to-5 grinder wishes to quit the rat race early, but many are surprised to find that the freedom offered by spending an aimless day week after week is a double-edged sword. Make sure you think through your situation, and be comfortable with the changes before you make the jump. Happiness is obviously possible, but a retiree still has to pursue it. The state of mind doesn’t magically get handed to you just because you’ve turned in your resignation.
David Ning is the founder of MoneyNing.com .
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How to Overcome Mental Roadblocks to Early Retirement originally appeared on usnews.com
